Embracing The Unexpected
I’ll spare you all the details of birthing my three children, but let me just say from experience: when you’re in labor, the transition stage is a real thing. It’s the moment when everything becomes more intense, more chaotic, and you think things like, “I’m never going to get through this,” and, “Why didn’t I take the epidural when they offered it?” and, “Is it too late to put the baby back?” When you reach that transition point, it’s go time. You have to commit.
I’ve experienced many seasons of transition in my life. Most of these times have been normal and necessary like turning eighteen, figuring out what to do after college, starting a new job, marriage and motherhood. For the most part, these are expected transitions. We plan for them. But there are also transitions in life we don’t plan for: the loss of a job, relational misunderstandings, unanswered prayers and disappointments.
If you have the luxury of planning for a life transition, embrace it. And if you don’t have the luxury of planning for it? Embrace it. That was the guidance a trusted mentor gave me nearly twenty years ago when I was entering what would become the first of many transitions in my life.
I’d recently finished up a three-year commitment to a job that I had loved. And then suddenly, I was doing nothing. On purpose. I’d chosen to take a month to rest and seek God. I’d planned for it. I knew it was coming. But a week into what was supposed to be a month of rest, I was restless. I wanted to look for a job. I wanted to know what was next. My friend (much further along her journey than me ) offered words of encouragement reminding me to embrace my season of rest while I had it.
I didn’t realize at the time that it was actually a transition point in my life. Transitions are like turning a page in a book. We know what is behind us, but everything in front of us is up in the air.
The Bible unfolds many moments in which God demonstrated to His people that He was with them in seasons of transition. He assured them He would never leave them and that He wasn’t going to let them down. When Moses was preparing the Israelites for the day they would finally enter into their promised land, he said:
“Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you” (Deuteronomy 31:6 The Message).
Are you in a season of transition in your life? Maybe you are between careers, or navigating a new relationship. Maybe you have experienced major disappointment in life and need a fresh start. Transitions can feel like they are taking a long time, and we start to question what we’re doing. You may feel like things are out of your control, but you can determine your response during a transition. You can hold fast to hope and confidently state as Paul did in Philippians 1:6, “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you (me!) will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
We serve a God who says to us, “I will not fail you or abandon you” (Joshua 1:5). He told His people then, and it holds true for us today: “When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end” (Isaiah 43:2 The Message).
When I look back on transition times in my life, the thing that stands out to me is that I made it through them—sometimes limping, sometimes thriving, but through it nevertheless. I didn’t stay there. I didn’t get permanently stuck. I made the choice to keep going. The first few tries might feel like we’re doing everything wrong, but God doesn’t ask us to look perfect and do everything right. He tells us to keep going, press on and cross over.
Seasons of transition rarely come with an instruction manual. They’re usually unpredictable and unexpected, and most of their value is found in hindsight. Now, twenty years on and a whole of lot of planned and unplanned transitions later, I still return to those words from my friend when I find myself in transition. Embrace it. God is with you. You’re going to make it through this up-in-the-air moment and land on the next page of the beautiful story He is writing in your life.
Kristina Sabestinas
Kristina Sabestinas lives in Spokane, WA where she enjoys drinking really good coffee and raising her three boys alongside her husband, Justin. She has spent most of her career in government and political work, and has recently transitioned to working with her parents at the church they have pastored for over 25 years. You can hear some of her messages at victoryfaith.org/faithcast.
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